September 2021's Power Generation & Supply Market Recap is a snapshot of the data and information we curate. We share industry drivers, notable projects, recent mergers and acquisitions, interesting reads, and updates on upcoming meetings and conferences.
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Industry Drivers
Our data team tracks new and updated industry drivers. Here are some recent drivers we have been following this month:
Illinois Governor Signs Bill to Make State Energy Carbon-Free
Status: Effective
Organization: Illinois Legislature
Summary: On September 13, 2021, the Illinois Senate voted 37 to 17 to approve a bill that would lead Illinois to 100% carbon-free energy by 2050 and 40% renewable energy by 2030. On September 15, Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill, which will provide Exelon with nearly $700 million in subsidies from electric customers over the next five years to keep three nuclear plants open.
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California Governor Signs Offshore Wind Legislation Into Law
Status: Effective
Organization: California Legislature
Summary: On September 23, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that requires the California Energy Commission by June 1, 2022 to determine the maximum feasible capacity of offshore wind power needed to achieve reliability, ratepayer, employment, and decarbonization benefits, and to establish offshore wind generation goals for 2030 and 2045. The bill also requires the commission, in coordination with specified agencies, to develop a strategic plan for offshore wind development by June 30, 2023.
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Notable Projects
We track notable projects from the proposal stage to becoming effective. Here are some of the recent notable projects we have been tracking.
$490 Million Macadamia Solar 484 Project
Type: Solar Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Macadamia Solar, LLC
Region: North Carolina
Summary: On August 30, 2021, Macadamia Solar, LLC applied to the North Carolina Utilities Commission for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity authorizing construction of a 484 MW solar generating facility in Washington County. The Geenex Solar subsidiary said it expects to begin construction on the facility around the fourth quarter of 2023 and estimates the facility will begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2025. The facility's construction is expected to cost roughly $490 million.
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$420 Million Bowman Wind Project
Type: Wind Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Bowman Wind, LLC
Region: North Dakota
Summary: Bowman Wind, LLC filed an application with the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) in March 2021 for a Certificate of Site Compatibility for the Bowman Wind Project. The project would be located on more than 42,000 acres in central Bowman County in southwestern North Dakota. It would have a generating capacity of up to 208.7 MW and up to 74 wind turbines, as well as other infrastructure, including a substation, transmission line, and battery storage system. The subsidiary of Apex Clean Energy Holdings, LLC expects to begin construction on the $420 million project as early as the second quarter of 2022 and finish it by the end of 2022. The PSC had scheduled a hearing on the project for August 24. At the hearing, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department was expected to ask Apex to relocate 8 of the wind turbines because of their proximity to conservation areas and/or mating locations for an endangered bird called the sage grouse.
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$386 Million MP 33 Compressor Station Modification Project
Type: Pipeline - Gas
Status: Proposed
Organization: Golden Pass Pipeline, LLC
Region: Texas
Summary: On June 11, 2021, Golden Pass Pipeline, LLC submitted an Application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to amend the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity granted to it by the commission in December 2016 for the expansion of its pipeline system for the transportation of natural gas to its terminal facilities for liquefaction and export as liquefied natural gas. By the amendment (the MP 33 Compressor Station Modification Project), GPPL seeks to modify the previously approved MP 33 Compressor Station located in Orange County, Texas, at Milepost (MP) 33 of its system and to modify the previously approved interconnections in that part of its system. The Application asks FERC to approve the amendment on or before January 1, 2022, so GPPL can maintain its current schedule for construction of the facilities and commence service on them by the fourth quarter of 2022. FirmoGraphs estimates the project has a value of $386 million.
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$250 Million Proxima Solar Energy Center Project
Type: Solar Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Stanislaus County Planning Department
Region: California
Summary: On April 1, 2021, the Stanislaus County Planning Department filed a Notice of Determination for the Proxima Solar Energy Center Project, which is being developed by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC subsidiary Proxima Solar, LLC. The department said it had determined that requests made by Proxima Solar to amend the originally approved permit for the project by revising the approved plan, changing the proposed operational infrastructure, and increasing the permitted facility area don’t constitute a substantial change to the project, which would have up to 200 MW of solar generation and up to 150 MW of battery storage and be built on 1,100 acres in Stanislaus County, California. The $250 million project is scheduled to open in December 2023.
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$158 Million Slender Branch Solar Project
Type: Solar Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Slender Branch Solar, LLC
Region: North Carolina
Summary: On September 6, 2021, Slender Branch Solar, LLC filed a Motion to Renew a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Construct the 80 MW Slender Branch Solar Project in Bladen County with the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The project includes a 20 MWh battery storage system. A Power Purchase Agreement will allow the facility to sell electricity to Duke Energy Progress. Slender Branch Solar expects that the facility will cost $157.95 million to construct and will open on December 31, 2025. Birch Creek Development, LLC subsidiary BCD Project Holdings 1, LLC, which bought Slender Branch Solar in November 2020, will manage the development of the project and Pine Gate Renewables will construct it.
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$146 Million Fair Bluff Solar Project
Type: Solar Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Fair Bluff Solar, LLC
Region: North Carolina
Summary: On September 3, 2021, Fair Bluff Solar, LLC filed a motion asking the North Carolina Utilities Commission to renew a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity that it granted in October 2016 for a 75 MW solar generation facility to be constructed in Columbus County. Fairbluff Solar expects the facility will cost around $146 million to construct and projects it will come online on December 31, 2025. BCD Project Holdings 1, LLC is the new owner of Fair Bluff Solar and will manage the development of the facility, which will be constructed by Pine Gate Renewables.
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$102 Million Line #235 Extension and Related Projects
Type: Transmission Line
Status: Proposed
Organization: Virginia Electric and Power Company
Region: Virginia
Summary: On June 30, 2021, Virginia Electric and Power Company filed an application for approval and certification of electric transmission facilities in Mecklenburg County with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. To accommodate data center growth in the county, the Dominion Energy subsidiary is proposing to convert two 115 kV switching stations — the existing Cloud and the under-construction Easters — to 230 kV switching stations and add a 230 kV 84 MVAR cap bank in the Easters Switching Station. It also wants to cut the Clover-Farmville Line #235 at structure #235/310 and extend one 230 kV line to the Cloud Switching Station; one 230 kV line to the Easters Switching Station; and one 230 kV line between the Cloud and Easters switching stations. In conjunction with that, it wants to relocate three lines in a roughly half-mile section of right-of-way to allow for the installation of the 230 kV lines. Dominion is asking the commission to issue a final order by next July. Should it do that, the company estimates that construction on the project would begin around April 1, 2023 and be completed by June 1, 2024. Dominion estimates the project would cost $101.5 million to construct.
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$81 Million Hunters Cove Solar 50-MW Facility
Type: Solar Generation
Status: Proposed
Organization: Hunters Cove Solar, LLC
Region: North Carolina
Summary: On August 20, 2020, the North Carolina Utilities Commission issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity tor Hunters Cove Solar, LLC, for the construction of a 50 MW solar generation facility in Rutherford County. Capital Power Investments bought Hunters Cove Solar, LLC, on May 4, 2020, according to a Notice of Change of Control filed with the NCUC on May 27, 2020. Capital Power says on its website that construction on the project is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022 and that the project is expected to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2022. FirmoGraphs estimates the project’s value to be $81 million.
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Notable M&A
The following M&A transactions in the Power Generation and Supply Industry stand out in the month of May:
- On September 08, 2021, Greenbacker Renewable Energy announced a purchase of a 41 MW solar project from Prism Power Partners.
- On September 27, 2021, SOO Green HVDC Link announced the purchase of the ownership interest in the SOO Green project.
What We Are Reading
Here are some recent articles our team has been reading:
- WATCH: Old Alabama TVA fossil plant's smokestacks demolished
- Governor Phil Murphy, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, and Elected, Union, Environmental, and Private Sector Leaders Break Ground on the New Jersey Wind Port
- Wyoming's biggest utility is quitting coal. Few are satisfied with the plan
- Algonquin Power & Utilities building 108-MW wind farm under PPA with JPMorgan Chase
- Great Lakes Impact Investment Platform nears $4 billion in sustainability projects
- 10 Largest Wind Farm Projects Completed in the U.S. so Far in 2021
- Vineyard Wind Bids for New Project Near First U.S. Offshore Wind Farm
- DuPont Announces Virtual Power Purchase Agreement for Renewable Energy
- NY Gov. Hochul launches green energy initiative to unite NYC, New York state and Canada
- Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions announces its first wind energy project in Iowa - 207-MW Ledyard Windpower
- Long-delayed plans for North Carolina's second wind farm back on track
- Oregon PUC approves policy changes to Community Solar Program to spur enrollment
- PG&E - Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company Expand 211 California Network
- Boston passes new building decarbonization ordinance
- Vineyard Offshore Wind Farm Project in the US Goes Forward
- Minnesota PUC authorizes Xcel Energy to update Grand Meadow Wind Farm
Meeting Planner
Organizations have shifted their event strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are tracking these changing meeting plans.
Meetings in October and November 2021
- AFPM 2021 Environmental Conference - Oct. 11 - Oct. 12, 2021
- API Storage Tank Conference And Expo - Oct. 12 - Oct. 14, 2021
- SEPA Solar and Energy Storage Southeast - Oct. 11 - Oct. 12, 2021
- AWEA Offshore WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition - Oct. 13 - Oct. 15, 2021
- AFPM 2021 International Petrochemical Conference - Oct. 17 - Oct. 19, 2021
- APPA Legal & Regulatory Conference - Oct. 17 - Oct. 20, 2021
- MnSEIA Gateway to Solar Conference - Oct. 18 - Oct. 19, 2021
- ACAA Fall Membership Meeting - Oct. 19 - Oct. 20, 2021
- ACEEE National Conference on Energy Efficiency as a Resource - Oct. 19 - Oct. 27, 2021
- ACAA Global Trends in Fly Ash Production and Utilization Workshop - Oct. 20 - Oct. 21, 2021
- AEE World Energy Conference & Expo - Oct. 20 - Oct. 22, 2021
- APPA Customer Connections Conference - Oct. 24 - Oct. 27, 2021
- ISES Solar World Congress - Oct. 25 - Oct. 29, 2021
- USAEE/IAEE North American Conference - Navigating Energy Transitions: Economic, Social, Technical and Policy Challenges - Nov. 1 - Nov. 2, 2021
- ACEEE BECC 2021 Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change - Nov. 8 - Nov. 10, 2021
- API Cybersecurity Conference For The Oil & Natural Gas Industry - Nov. 9 - Nov. 10, 2021
- NAESCO Renovate Retrofit Reduce Conference and Show - Nov. 9 - Nov. 12, 2021
Early Birds Registration
- Event: NAESCO Renovate Retrofit Reduce Conference and Show
Dates: Nov. 9 - Nov. 12, 2021
Early Bird Registration Deadline: Oct. 24, 2021
Call for Papers Date
- Event: ACAA World of Coal Ash
Dates: May 16 - May 19, 2022
Deadline for Call for Papers: Nov. 19, 2021